Megan Levy

A cyclist killed in a collision with a truck in Rose Bay has been identified as Henri Sueke, a father of four and children's doctor who had recently moved from England to Australia with his young family.

"We grew up together. We lived our lives together. We are all shocked beyond words."

Daya Sharma, an eye surgeon in Sydney, said he had not known Dr Sueke personally but knew of his work, including his publications on corneal infections.

He wrote online that Dr Sueke's death was tragic for their profession, but more so for his young family.

"Extremely difficult to process [the] loss of someone who obviously had a lot more to contribute to society, and would have," Dr Sharma wrote.

Dr Sueke was a regular fundraiser, taking part in last year's Great Manchester Cycle for the charity Vision4Children. He had also competed in triathlons and fun runs.

NSW Police said the cyclist and the truck were both believed to have been travelling towards the city when the crash occurred during Thursday morning's peak hour.

A rescue helicopter was sent to the crash scene and emergency services were clearing a space for it to land near New South Head Road, but Dr Sueke died before it arrived.

The crash occurred just metres from Cranbrook Junior School on Kent Road, as some students would have been arriving for classes.

The driver of the truck was taken to hospital for mandatory blood and urine tests, police said.

An investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing.

John Sunde, a cycling advocate who lives and works in Rose Bay, said he did not see Thursday morning's accident, but rode along that section of road almost every day.

He said New South Head Road consisted of two lanes in each direction at the crash location, but cars were generally parked along the side of the road, reducing the space in the already narrow lanes. That was the case on Thursday morning when the crash occurred.

Photographs of the crash scene show the truck and its trailer came to a stop in the lane closest to the cars parked along the side of the road. Dr Sueke was pinned under the front tyres of the truck's trailer.

Mr Sunde stressed the importance of the Amy Gillett Foundation's "A Metre Matters" campaign, which is calling for the Australian Road Rules to be amended so that drivers must allow a minimum of one metre when overtaking cyclists.

"When there are parked cars on the inside of narrow lanes, there is no room whatsoever. A metre really does matter," Mr Sunde said.

The Jewish Chronicle reports that Dr Sueke's wife and children were on their way to Israel where his funeral would take place.